I Will Follow You Into The Dark
by justfits92
Summary: The night of Harry's 24th birthday leads to a conversation that will forever change Hermione and Harry's friendship. When they both realize they are in love with the other, what will they do? Will they ever tell each other? Will it ever work? (Rated M for future chapters) HG/HP pairing. Harmony. R&R Please. Will be updated regularly:)
1. Sunshine & Whiskey

**Authors Note: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters (minus the occasional OC that may arise) belong to JK Rowling. This is merely one of my many interpretations of how I would have liked the story to go.**

 **Please R &R :) I will be forever grateful!**

It was the morning after Harry's 24th birthday. Hermione had just awoken to the pale June sunlight streaming through the curtained windows of Grimmauld place. Ginny lay next to her still quietly snoring. She sat and reflected on the events of the night before, unsure if everything had just changed or if she was just overthinking it all.

The night before had been nothing short of pure madness. Ron had decided that Harry needed a grand party to celebrate despite Harry's insistence that it was unnecessary. This resulted in Grimmauld place being flooded with every former classmate, coworker, and friend that the trio had ever known showing up at Harry's door. People were mostly tame (minus Seamus accidentally lighting the living room rug on fire when playing a riveting game of wizard's chess with a very drunk Dean Thomas). People were all in good spirits and all three of the members of the Golden trio indulged in far more firewhiskey than usual. It was all normal as ever, that is, until the party started to dwindle down.

Near the end of the night, the party got significantly smaller with only former classmates staying to drink and talk about Hogwarts and how greatly their lives had changed. Seamus and Dean were drunk in the corner trying to determine which of them should hit on Patel twins first (both of which were sitting in a corner drinking wine and critiquing some muggle television shown with Lavendar Brown). Luna, Neville, and Ron were in the kitchen discussing some theory Luna had about how the Chudley Cannons couldn't win because they were 'overcome by nargles' (Ron was practically screaming about their 'accuracy percentage' from the kitchen). Ginny was kissing Oliver Wood on the couch making everyone else thoroughly uncomfortable and causing George to throw his newest water pellets in their direction whenever they got too heated.

After the war, everyone had hoped that Ginny and Harry would get back together and live happily ever after. They tried to make it work but they just never seemed to fit the way everyone had hoped. Ginny was far too much of a free spirit and Harry just wanted to settle down. Ginny got offered a contract with the English National Quidditch team and she jumped at the opportunity. Her and Harry broke up shortly after she left. They were amicable though, so when she brought Oliver Wood home to Christmas a few months later, Harry was happy she found someone who made her happy.

Hermione decided to move away from the two lovers (who looked dangerously like they were melding their faces together) and went to go sit in the library where she could get some quiet time alone. She had never been one for parties and after the amount of wine and firewhiskey in her system, some quiet would be nice. As she entered the library, she could hear Ron yelling about how "quaffles could not have been tampered with by nargles you nitwit!" and she laughed internally to herself. She could hardly believe that they were once an item.

They had gotten together right after the war like everyone wanted but it was useless. They fought constantly and couldn't agree on even the smallest of things. After a month, they both agreed to call it quits so they could save the friendship. While it was hard seeing Ron jump from slag to slag right after they broke up, Hermione was well over it now and they were back to being the Golden trio as usual.

Hermione grabbed a Hogwarts: A History from the nearest shelf and went to sit on the couch in front of the fire. She looked down to see Harry sitting in front of the couch with a tortured expression on his face and a glass of firewhiskey in his hand.

"Harry? What's wrong? Are you okay? What happen-?" Hermione said quickly, sitting down next to him.

"I'm fine really… I just. I guess I thought by now I would have my life together. I would be married and maybe have a kid on the way. I just… here I am, 24 and alone… and it just bloody sucks!" Harry said staring into his glass of firewhiskey.

"Do you mean to tell me you're having a quarter-life crisis?" Hermione said in amusement as she took the glass of firewhiskey from his hand. "Did it ever occur to you that NONE of us have our lives in order yet? That maybe you're just completely normal? I promise you, when you meet the right girl, it'll all work out. You'll get all that and so much more" she said to him seriously.

Harry laughed and a drunken smile came to his face "Fair enough… at least I'm not sleeping with every tart this side of the channel like Ron, right?" Hermione broke out into laughter and nodded her head. "You have a far better chance of finding your perfect girl by not doing that, I assure you" Hermione reassured him. Harry leaned his head against Hermione's shoulder and sighed. "How will I know when I've found her though Hermione? Is she just gonna show up with some big sign that says 'Harry Potter I am your soulmate' and I'll whisk her away and make babies for the rest of my days? How the hell am I supposed to know? I mean, these are the things you ask your Dad but I don't have one. I'm kinda shooting in the dark here" Harry said exasperated.

Hermione took a deep breath and paused, trying to figure out how he'd know, how anyone was supposed to know. She had no experience in this. The farthest she had ever been with a guy was Ron and that was merely a snog. And she certainly couldn't say she had ever found 'The One' in her 24 years on Earth. She hardly knew how she'd know either. She had always figured it was just something you knew but as she grew older, she realized how silly that notion actually was.

"Harry… I can't say that I really know much about love or anything like that. I mean, if this was something practical, I could talk your ear off I assure you, but this has never really been my strong suit. I suppose though, you know it's the one when you can't imagine your life without them. When you meet that person that you could spend every minute of every day with and still be incandescently happy. When they mean the world to you and you'd do anything for them. When without them, your world seems incomplete" Hermione said dreamily staring at the fire.

Harry turned to look at her and smiled. He started to quietly chuckle to himself. "Hermione, if that's what love is, than I've been in love with you and Ron for ages!" Hermione turned and looked at him shaking her head. "No! Merlin's beard! What I mean is the person that is the right one for you should be someone who makes your entire world complete. Who you can tell anything to and who you want to share everything with. Someone who's happiness you'd be willing to sacrifice your own for. Someone who makes your heart burst just by being in the same room" Harry nodded understandingly.

"Have you ever felt that way about anyone?" Harry asked Hermione. Hermione closed her eyes and thought about all the long lost loves she'd had (which weren't many seeing as she wasn't one to date around). She knew that she never felt that way for Victor. And while she did love Ron, she never wanted to spend every day with him nor was he easy for her to talk to. The only person Hermione could even think of remotely fitting that description sat right in front of her. Harry had been her rock when she had to send her parents away. He had been her confidant since the moment he and Ron saved her from that troll first year. And had he allowed her to, she would have followed him to Voldemort, just to make sure he didn't die alone.

Hermione looked at Harry, with the realization dawning upon her and then looked away quickly "I don't know Harry. I just… don't know. I've never felt loved by someone in a romantic sense. So I guess not. No."

"I never felt that way for Ginny. Sure I wanted to protect her but she was never the one person I could talk to. Hell, the only person I've ever wanted to talk to is…" Harry said hesitantly pausing. Hermione looked at him, waiting for him to finish. "Who?" Hermione asked him quietly.

Before Harry could answer, Ron came stumbling into the room with Neville and Luna on his heels, complaining about how no one agreed with him that the Chudley Cannons weren't the worse team in the league. The moment between them was lost and Hermione hurriedly ran up to the guest room and went to bed.

Now that it was morning and she had the opportunity to both sober up and think, Hermione realized she was in far too deep. She was in love with Harry. At least by her own definition of love she was. He was her best friend, her everything, and it took her 13 years to even consider the prospect that maybe there was more to her feelings than just a platonic friendship. But it was Harry. And Harry would never feel that way about her or at least that's what she told herself. She pushed it out of her mind and resigned herself to go downstairs and act as if nothing happened. Little did she know, Harry was having a similar crisis about her and nothing would ever be quite the same again.


	2. Tell Her You Love Her

**Authors Note: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters (minus the occasional OC that may arise) belong to JK Rowling. This is merely one of my many interpretations of how I would have liked the story to go.**

 **Please R &R! I am already amazed by the response to this story! ****J** **You guys are fabulous! Hopefully I'll be posting again really soon!**

Harry had watched Hermione scamper from the library the night before with longing. He had hoped she would have stayed up to spend more time together. He hardly saw her anymore since she had started working at St. Mungo's as a healer. Healers had hectic schedules and he was lucky that she was able to even attend the party much less stay the whole evening. Not to mention his schedule in the auror department left little time to spend with anyone. He was always constanly being sent out for missions or being used to train new recruits as everyone wanted to be trained by 'the savior of our world' or so his boss kept telling him. Harry sat there immersed in thought about how much he missed seeing her everyday like they used to in the Hogwarts days, completely ignoring Ron's tirade about how 'Puddlemere United was truly so much worse than the Chudley Cannons'.

I was going to tell her that the only person I want to talk to is her, Harry had thought to himself. It was the truth though. Ever since they were young, Hermione had been the one Harry would go to with all his troubles. She was his light during all the dark that constantly surrounded him. It's not that Ron wasn't a great friend but he had a bit of a temper and he wasn't always great with empathy to say the least. Of course, it also helped that Hermione grew up as a muggle, which meant she could relate to his life at the Dursley's far better than Ron ever could. She had always been the one person who would go through hell for him. In fact, she was the only one who stood by his side through it all no matter what. She was the most cherished person in his entire world and he really couldn't imagine his life without her in it.

He had known for a while that his feelings for Hermione were far from platonic. When they had spent that year in the tent, Harry watched Hermione go from this self-conscious young girl to this fiery woman who could face anything. Her ability to think on her feet saved his life more than once and her composure in the face of horror amazed him to no end. The defining moment that he was sure that his feelings were a love greater than he'd ever know was when she was being tortured at Malfoy Manor and he was forced to listen from the dungeons. Hearing her scream and being unable to do anything, Harry realized that he would die a hundred times just to take away her pain. He knew he loved her more than himself and when she was finally safe, he could never look at her the same.

While he always had an inkling that his feelings were so much more than friendship, he had put them away for Ron's sake. Especially after the horcrux had revealed to Harry that Ron's greatest fear was losing Hermione to Harry that night in the woods when Ron returned to them. After all that the Weasley's had done for him, he surely could do that much for Ron. The Weasley's were the closest thing he had to a family and he couldn't bear to disappoint them. No matter how much it hurt to watch her go off with Ron in the end, he truly believed he was doing what was best for everyone. So he went and tried to make it work with Ginny like everyone had hoped. Harry sat idly by as Hermione and Ron broke up and he was stuck in a loveless relationship with Ginny. When Ginny finally broke it off, Harry was more relieved than hurt. He finally was free to go after Hermione. But for some reason, he never did. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was a feeling of inadequacy, but he could never get the guts to tell her how he felt.

He had been so close to telling her right then, but Ron just had to barge in and ruin the moment. The way she looked at him though when he was about to tell her was something he had never seen in Hermione's eyes. She looked almost hopeful that he was going to tell her what he had felt for the longest time. She looked almost expectant. He thought he might have been imaging it, but he swore he thought he saw love in her eyes. And not just the brotherly love they had so long tried to claim. Definitely don't feel like she's my sister, that's for sure Harry thought to himself. He shook the thought out of his head as Ron clapped him on the shoulder.

"Earth to Harry… you alright mate? Need another drink?" Ron asked him, returning Harry to the reality around him. Harry shook his head and decided he would deal with his feelings in the morning when he wasn't drunk and emotionally needy. He went to bed that night more confused than he'd ever been.

Now it was morning and Harry could hear Hermione softly descending the stairs to the kitchen. He could always tell her footsteps apart from anyone else. Harry debated with himself whether he should stay upstairs but realized it was silly to even try to avoid his best friend. It's not like she admitted that she had any feelings for him. Nor had she ever. He wasn't going to risk alienating his best friend (and love of his life) over something he could very well be overthinking.

Harry grabbed his glasses from the night stand and wiped them off against his shirt. He got up and went downstairs to see Hermione attempting to reach for a large bowl on the top of the shelf. She was hopping up and down with a determined look on her face that reminded Harry of a small child who is determined not to ask for help. Harry laughed under his breath. Hermione quickly whirled herself around to see Harry desperately trying not to laugh at her. Hermione huffed and sarcastically said "You know, rather than being a prat, you could just help me!"

"Alright alright Mione… whatever happened to that girl power thing you were trying out. I am woman… yeah?" Harry muttered to her with a smile on his face as he reached up and grabbed the bowl for her with ease. "That doesn't apply to you! You're… Harry. You… you help people with things" Hermione muttered nervously looking down at the floor. Harry put the bowl on the counter and saw that she had obviously intended to make pancakes prior to the whole bowl fiasco. "Want some help in here?" Harry asked her as he put on a kettle of water for their morning tea.

Hermione cracked a smile and nodded at him. "Sure… want to whip up the batter while I butter the pan?" she said while busying herself with melting butter in a large frying pan on the stove. Harry hurried and got the batter ready and placed a small amount of the batter in the hot pan. Harry could tell that Hermione was tenser than usual ( _perhaps she did feel something?)_ and decided that he had to loosen her up a bit.

"Hey Hermione? Does this look right?' Harry said grinning and pointing into the pan. Hermione walked over to the stove to peer at the pancake when Harry suddenly stuck his finger in the batter and smeared a dollop of the batter onto her nose. Hermione gasped and started laughing "I'll get you for that one Potter!" she exclaimed and dipped her finger into the batter. Harry began to run away as Hermione chased him around the kitchen table. She eventually caught up to him but tripped in her haste, toppling them both to the ground.

Harry rubbed his head and laughed as Hermione smeared the remaining batter left on her finger across his cheek. "Told you I'd get you!" she said laughing. "Couldn't do it without tackling me though, could you Mione? You alright?" Harry said chuckling.

"Only my pride is bruised. You?" Hermione asked him. Harry shook his head and looked at Hermione with a soft grin. Harry began to realize the sheer proximity of the position they were currently in. Hermione was splayed out on top of him and he had his leg wedged in between her legs. If he angled the wrong way, this would get awkward fast. He wished he could though. All he could think of is how badly he wanted to capture her lips in a kiss and snog her senseless right there on the kitchen floor. But he knew better then to keep those thoughts in his head for too long. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon belly dancing he kept repeating in his head to make sure she couldn't sense his rising excitement.

"Harry… I um… I was just wondering. About what you were saying last night…" Hermione began to say. Harry looked at her quickly and stared into her eyes. Hermione began to lean closer to him and her eyes began to flutter closed. All of a sudden, the tea kettle began to whistle loudly. Harry looked up quickly and saw smoke coming from the pancake they had forgotten about. Hermione jumped up quickly and turned off the stove while Harry cast a charm to stop the smoke and get rid of the badly burnt pancake left in the pan. Both of them laughed about their carelessness with Hermione chiding him for distracting her from the task at hand.

Once the situation had been successfully dealt with, Harry went over to Hermione and put his hands on her shoulders. "What were you going to ask me?" Harry said softly, gazing into her eyes. Hermione stared at him for a moment and then looked away with a blush forming on her cheeks. Harry could hear the stairs creaking and suddenly both Ginny and Ron stumbled into the room, clearly hungover from the previous nights escapades.

"Oy what is that smell? What'd you do… let Seamus try to make breakfast?" Ron said with a snort. Ginny stood in the doorway with a knowing smile, looking at Harry's arms draped about Hermione's shoulders. Harry quickly pulled away and went about making pancakes from the remaining batter. Hermione saw Ginny's smirk and went to the refrigerator to grab some milk for the tea. Ginny sauntered up next to Hermione and said "Hermione, you busy today? I was going to visit Diagon Alley to pick up a few things for Victoire's birthday next week. Care to join me?" with a smirk on her face.

"Uh, no I'm not busy. I suppose that sounds nice. I'd love to join you" Hermione said, shooting a look at Ginny that Harry couldn't place. Harry finished making the pancakes and all four of them tucked into breakfast. Once breakfast was finished, Ginny rushed Hermione upstairs to get ready for Diagon Alley while Harry and Ron sat down in the living room to play some Wizard's chess.

Ginny and Hermione emerged about a half hour later. Hermione had obviously been poked and prodded by Ginny in the room. Hermione stood there in a dark black skirt, maroon short sleeved top, and a pair of tall high heel boots that he was sure couldn't possibly belong to her. Her hair had been neatly tamed and make up accented her honey-brown eyes. She looked absolutely gorgeous and Harry could hardly rip his eyes away from her. Ginny had a self-satisfied smile and gave both Ron and Harry a hug before moving to allow Hermione to do the same. Hermione gave Ron a short friendly hug and then paused in front of Harry. She smiled and gave him one of her famous Hermione hugs only ever reserved for him and before he knew it, she had let got and apparated off to Diagon Alley.

Harry stood there with a stupid grin for a minute. "You alright mate? You look like you just drank amortentia or something" Ron said looking at Harry.

"Can I tell you something mate? You can't tell a soul though… I mean it. You have to keep it to yourself" Harry said, looking at Ron seriously.

Ron nodded "Of course Harry… I can keep things to myself. Thanks for the vote of confidence though mate. It's not like we've been best friends for thirteen years or anything…" he said with a laugh. Harry sat on the couch with a sad, exasperated look.

"I'm in love…" Harry started to say. "Holy shite! Really? Is it that girl from work…? Jennifer…no wait… Jessica? She's bloody beautiful. I bet you could get that! She'd so be into you. I've heard she's into the hero types. Maybe you could…?" Ron began to ramble on.

"… with Hermione" Harry finished. Suddenly Ron stopped talking and stared at Harry incredulously. "Wait, are you serious? Like you're actually in love with Hermione? You're serious? Hermione? As in Hermione Granger? Like the one who was just here? Hermione, Hermione?" Ron said shocked. Harry nodded staring into the living room fireplace.

"How long?" Ron asked him. Harry wasn't sure how to respond seeing as Ron used to date Hermione but he figured the truth was always the best option. "Since we were in the tent to be honest. Maybe even longer…definitely longer actually. Maybe always. At least… a very long time now." Harry said regretfully.

"So you watched me fuck up with her even though you were in love with her? You didn't even say anything? You just let me have her even though you loved her too? Wow, I am really sorry mate. I didn't know. I appreciate that you let me have my chance! I did love her, I promise. If I had known…" Ron said quietly.

"No Ron, no. I knew you loved her. That's why I never did anything. Being friends with you both was far more important than some chance at being with her. But now… now it's different. It's just gotten stronger. It's gotten so much harder to sit idly by and watch her be all alone when I could be with her." Harry told him.

"So are you going to tell her?" Ron asked him. "I don't know if I should. What if she doesn't want me? What if it just fucks everything up? I can't lose her just because I have feelings that she reciprocate" Harry said with a downtrodden look.

"You should tell her mate. I'm not a Hermione expert (obviously) but I've seen you two together. There is a reason I was always jealous of the two of you. You two… you just have something that I've never seen. It's like you get each other better than anyone else. You have to tell her Harry. You have to at least give it a shot. You can't just keep on like this and always wonder man. It's not healthy. Plus, if she does feel the same way, you're just torturing yourselves over nothing right?" Ron told Harry seriously.

"And if she doesn't feel the same. What then?" Harry asked. "Then at least you know" Ron said. "I'll think about it" Harry said lost in his thoughts.

Ron and Harry finished their game of wizard's chess and Ron hurried back to the Burrow to do some paperwork for their boss that he'd been putting off. Harry spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the library fighting with himself about whether to tell Hermione how he felt or to keep quiet and just let it all go. By the end of the night, he resigned himself to tell Hermione when the moment was right. He could only hope that when that moment came, she'd love him the way he loved her.


	3. Surrender

**Author's Note: I do not own HP or anything like that (wish I did though!). On a better note, I have been so overwhelmed with the support this story has gotten. You guys are all super awesome. I have a few comments to readers. I am going to stick with the italics for words because it's far easier for me to differentiate when I am trying to fix errors along the way. Hope you guys don't mind too much. Also, someone had mentioned how they feel that it should be mentioned about indoctrination by Dumbledore in chapter 2. I personally don't think that Harry would see his upbringing/mentorship by Dumbledore as indoctrination so I felt it wouldn't make sense for how I view the characters. I really appreciate everyone's input! Hopefully I will have another chapter up in the net couple of days. I am a graduate student so I have to bang out a few papers this week but I will do the best I can. Thanks for reading guys!** **J**

Hermione knew from the moment that Ginny gave her that questioning look in the kitchen that it was going to lead to an interesting conversation. Ginny was easy to read, at least to Hermione, and she could tell that Ginny had something to say about her and Harry's proximity. Hermione could help by blush thinking about how close she had come to actually making a move on Harry. She was lucky the tea kettle had gone off when it did or who knows what would have happened. Ginny quickly dragged Hermione upstairs talking about how they were 'running so far behind schedule'. The moment Ginny closed the door the guest room however she set her eyes on Hermione with a questioning look.

"Care to tell me what I just walked in on?" Ginny questioned her with a smile. It was in these moments that Ginny reminded Hermione of Mrs. Weasley. "Walked in on? What ever do you mean?" Hermione said, desperately trying to dodge the conversation. She knew that admitting her feelings for Harry to his ex-girlfriend may not be the best idea. Hermione walked over to her charmed bag and started pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Hermione, please. I may not be as smart as you, but I am certainly not blind and I know that what I saw was far from platonic. Spill!" Ginny said, hastily grabbing Hermione's bag from her hand. "Hermione, I am your best friend. Well… okay girl friend at least. Talk to me. Please." Ginny pleaded with a puppy dog look in her eyes.

Hermione sighed and sat on the bed with nervously twiddling her fingers. "Ginny, I know you're trying to come from a good place here but… don't you think talking about his might be sort of… weird? Considering you dated him and all…" Hermione trailed off looking out the window, avoiding Ginny's gaze. "You know why me and Harry broke up?" Ginny said quietly, moving to sit next to Hermione on the bed.

Hermione shook her head. "I had always supposed it was your different personalities… He's such a homebody and you… well you're so free. Harry didn't really mention much about it. Just that it was your choice and he respected it." Hermione said with a small smile. Ginny softly sighed and shook her head softly.

"Hermione, while that is all true, that's not why I left him. I loved Harry, truly I did. But you can't plan your life around someone when they plan their life around someone else. It doesn't work out too well." Ginny said looking at Hermione seriously. Hermione whipped her head to stare at Ginny with shock. "What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked Ginny as her mind buzzed with unanswered questions.

"Hermione, every time I ever asked Harry about plans for the future, he could never make up his mind. He'd always talk about how someday he'd like to fix up his parents place in Godric's Hollow. The only detail he could ever decide on was that you had to be a part of it. How you had to live nearby so that the kids could be friends. Or how you needed to be able to reach London to get to St. Mungo's so we'd all need to be on the good portion of the floo network. And eventually, it became less about him and I, and more about him and you. And that's when I realized, his plan for the future wasn't about us. It was about the two of you. So I left. Not because I didn't love him but because I wasn't the one he imagined spending his life with. I was convenient not ideal." Ginny told Hermione, grasping her hand.

Hermione shook her head at Ginny and said "Ginny, you have to understand I would never… you're one of my best friends, I'd never take him away from you. Please don't think…"

"I know you wouldn't. It was never about what you would do. It was about the fact that he may have believed he was doing the right thing by me. But being with me because he thinks it's the right thing to do, doesn't actually make it the right thing to do. And I am much happier now with Ollie anyway so it's not like I have any hard feeling about it or anything like that." Ginny interrupted. "But that's not the point. The point is, there is something going on between the two of you that's much greater than either of you ever thought"

Hermione got up to get dressed and said offhandedly "I'm not his type Gin. He likes fiery and interesting and unique. I am plain and boring and predictable. He's never been into girls like me. He likes…"

"Enough!" Ginny said to her imploringly. "He likes those who treat him kindly which you have always done. You have treated him better than anyone in his life. But if you want to be 'what he wants' then I can take care of that" Ginny said with a smirk. Ginny rushed over to her bag and pulled out a pair of tall dark high-heeled boots. She began to rummage in Hermione's bag until she found a maroon shirt and a tight black skirt.

"Throw this on" Ginny told Hermione, handing her the ensemble. "Ginny, I…" Hermione tried to protest. "None of that now, for once just do as I say and put it on!" Ginny said insistently. Hermione took the clothing from Ginny with a skeptical look on her face. She put the clothing on and walked over to the mirror, gawking at her appearance. "I look ridiculous!" Hermione said with a huff. "Give me a minute!" Ginny said laughing. Ginny went to her bag and grabbed more makeup containers than Hermione had ever seen one person ever need. Ginny ushered Hermione over and covered her face in what Hermione approximated to be a half-ton too much for any one person to ever wear.

Once Ginny was satisfied with her work, she brought Hermione over to the mirror. Hermione gawked at herself in awe. She could admit she looked nice, pretty even. But she looked so… different. "Ginny, this is too much, I look…" Hermione said trailing off, walking closer to the mirror examining her appearance. "You look great and if you really don't care what he thinks then it shouldn't matter right? But if you want to see how he reacts, let's go see hmm? I bet he can't take his eyes off of you!" Ginny said to Hermione, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the door. Hermione was apprehensive but she figured it couldn't hurt to see how Harry reacted. If anything, it might quell the voice in her head saying that she wanted him to see her as more than just the bushy haired best friend.

Ginny and Hermione made their way downstairs to see Harry and Ron playing a game of wizard's chess. "We're heading to Diagon Alley boys! See you at Victoire's party on Saturday? Oh and Ron? Don't forget to get their early to help mum set up. She'll be blazing mad if you're late again" Ginny said with her usual pep and a pointed glare at her older brother. Ron and Harry both stood up and Ron nodded rolling his eyes at Ginny's comment. Harry's eyes were glued to Hermione and she did her best not to look nervous under his watchful gaze. Ron gave his sister a hug and promised not to be late again and Ginny reached over and gave Harry a quick hug before grabbing a handful of floo powder and shouting 'The Leaky Cauldron'.

Hermione nervously shifted her weight from foot to foot. She gave Ron a small friendly hug and then looked at Harry. His eyes were sparkling and he smiled at her with such happiness that she couldn't help but lunge at him with a huge hug. She held onto him for what seemed like ages then pulled apart from him slowly. She looked into his eyes shyly then quickly grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace and yelled 'The Leaky Cauldron' before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

The next thing she knew, she was standing inside the Leaky Cauldron with Ginny Weasley smiling from ear to ear. "What took you so long huh?" Ginny said with a sly smile. "Oh shush" Hermione said with a smirk. "Where we headed Gin?" Hermione said trying to divert the conversation.

Resisting the urge to say I told you so, Ginny told her "Since Victoire is turning six and she just learned to read, I figure we stop by Flourish and Blott's then we can go visit George? Fleur asked for practical presents that she can actually use. I guess last years influx of princess dresses was more than they bargained for" Hermione nodded and they headed through the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley was brimming with people as Ginny and Hermione pushed through the crowd to reach Flourish and Blotts's. Once inside, Ginny and Hermione went over to the children's section and browsed for something that might strike Victoire's fancy. Hermione ended up pick up a large book titled 'Fairytales From Beyond' while Ginny picked out 'Female Quidditch Stars through the Ages'. They both made their purchases and got out of the crowded store and headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to go see George.

The store was crowded as usual but once they bumped in Lee Jordan (who had stepped in to help George manage the store upon Fred's death), they were directed to the back stock room to find George. George was rummaging through boxes muttering to himself about how "no one ever cleans this damn room" when Ginny cleared her throat.

"Oy woman! Trying to give me a heart attack then?" George said with a laugh. He walked over and gave them both a big hug. "Stopped by to shop for Victoire's birthday" Ginny said nonchalantly.

Hermione looked around the back room, amazed at how many products George had been able to come up with recently. It took George almost two years before opening the store back up after the war ended. He was too deep into his depression upon losing Fred to even consider it until one day Molly dragged him off the sofa and told him "Enough is enough" and forced him back into the shop. She had already lost one son and she refused to lose another to depression and loss. George was hesitant but knew that if his mother could force herself to go on, so could he. George eventually threw himself into his work, finding it almost healing to be back in the place that him and Fred had worked so hard to build. While George certainly wasn't the same person he was before losing Fred, he amazed them all by how far he'd come.

"Oy Hermione… Ginny tells me she saw quite the eyeful this morning… care to share?" George said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed "Really Ginny! You saw nothing…!"

Both Ginny and George shared a conspiratory look. "Sure 'Mione. Nothing at all." Ginny said mockingly. The three of them stood there for a bit talking about plans for the next weekend. George and Ginny kept making jabs at Hermione about Harry to which Hermione could hardly summon up a retort. Hermione looked at her watch and realized the afternoon was long over and it was almost time for supper. Hermione gathered her bag and shook her head at the two of them. "Well, it's been lovely getting to see you both but I've arranged to meet my parents in muggle London for supper. I'll see you both next week at the party?" Hermione said with a smile. They both nodded and Hermione strode out of the back room towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"So Gin, why are we tearing the mickey out of her? Not that it isn't fun, but I feel like you have a plan?" George said, looking at his sister. "I have an idea… and I think you can help me. Let's be serious here for a moment. Everyone in their right mind can tell that Harry and Hermione are over the moon for each other. They are both so obviously in love that it's almost pathetic that neither of them will admit it. So I was thinking… how about we give them a little… encouragement?" Ginny said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye that could rival either of the twins. George broke out into a grin and motioned for her to sit down. "How can I be of service?" He asked. After doing some careful planning, Ginny was sure that if next week didn't get Harry and Hermione to at least admit to themselves that they were in love, nothing ever would.


	4. When You Say Nothing At All

**Author's Note: I do not own HP nor do I gain anything but joy from writing this fic. I just wanted to say thank you all for reading this. The response has been phenomenal and you guys seriously make my day when you follow, review, to favorite this story. It means the world to me that people are enjoying what I am writing! Hope you guys enjoy the update. It's a little longer than the previous ones, hope you don't mind. Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. Thanks guys!**

Hermione was finishing up the last of her paperwork for the evening before heading out. It had been a long day at St. Mungo's, even longer than usual. There had been a breakout of Cornish pixies at the London magical zoo during a fieldtrip. Needless to say, they had attacked everyone in sight, which led to quite the overflow in the emergency room. It had been absolute chaos all afternoon and Hermione barely had time to take a breath. Hermione looked at her watch, it was almost time to go over to Harry's for their usual Wednesday night dinner. Ever since the war ended, Hermione and Harry had been having a weekly dinner on Wednesdays to catch up with each other. Hermione would bring the groceries, Harry would cook, and then Hermione would do the dishes. It was their way of staying in touch with what was going on in each other's lives. There were always a few weeks where it couldn't work like when Harry was on a mission or Hermione got the night shift at the hospital, but rather than the rare occasion, Wednesday dinner was their tradition. They'd make a fun dinner, sit and watch a muggle movie, and talk about anything and everything. It was always the highlight of Hermione's week. This week though was different though.

Ever since the weekend, when they had Harry's birthday party, Hermione had become far more aware of her feelings. Harry and her were never like other people, she realized that a long time ago. They had always been much closer than anyone else she knew. But until Ginny had told her that Harry had planned his life with her in mind, she never realized just how different their relationship was. The fact was, she planned her life with Harry in mind just like he planned his with her in mind. It had always been understood (although unspoken) between them that their lives would always be intricately intertwined with one another's. That someday, they would share a family and be part of each other's future was always an absolute. It just never occurred to her that neither she nor Harry ever really planned on others being a part of it. It was always just about the two of them. She always knew she loved Harry but she never realized that this love she had harbored for so long was anything but friendship. Having talked to Ginny, she knew that she was wrong. She loved Harry and not that sweet, funny, childhood love that was from the storybooks. She was willing to die for Harry. She loved him in a way so pure and strong that she had never realized what it was because it was beyond fairytales. And it scared the shit out of her.

She quickly finished her paperwork and apparated home to go pick up the groceries for her dinner with Harry. They had agreed on making chicken parmesan this week since it was her favorite meal (and incredibly easy to make on a long Wednesday). Upon getting home, she hopped in the shower quickly and put on a pair of jeans and a nice blue shirt. She even stopped to put some make up on which was unlike her. She suddenly had the desire to look nice to go have dinner with Harry. That thought alone made her head spin. She quickly grabbed the groceries from the fridge and apparated to Grimmauld place where Harry was waiting for her.

Harry had had a crazy week as well. After such a close encounter with Hermione over the weekend, he could barely get her out of his head. He had never seen Hermione act like the feelings he suppressed for so long were reciprocated. He was hoping that he wasn't imagining things and that she really did feel the same way. He wanted to get the courage to tell her how he felt but ruining the friendship was at the forefront of his mind. He figured that their weekly dinner would be a good way to gauge if what he thought he saw on Saturday night was true. He spent the better part of Wednesday afternoon making sure the house was clean and getting ready for her arrival. He picked up a bottle of her favorite elderflower wine on his way home and picked up a bouquet of lilies to put on the dining table. He set it all up perfectly and when he heard the usual pop that accompanies apparition, his heart began to hammer against his chest uncontrollably.

He went to the front hall, where Hermione was quickly struggling to take off her shoes. "Mione, want me to take those groceries?" Harry asked her with a smile. Hermione nodded and handed him the bags while she struggled to remove her shoes without dropping anything. "It's been quite the day! I've been up to my ears in patients. Did you know that the magical zoo in London had no precautions in place for an escape of Cornish pixies? It was insane. I have never seen so many bite marks in the emergency room in my entire life." Hermione said with a chuckle. Harry shook his head in amusement and walked towards the kitchen to place the groceries on the table. Hermione finally managed to wiggle her shoe off and followed him into the kitchen. She saw the bouquet on lilies in the vase, smiled and said "Harry, those flowers are lovely! What's the occasion?" "Just thought we could use some décor. This house can get dreary after a bit." Harry said nervously.

He preheated the oven to cook the chicken for dinner while Hermione helped unload the rest of the groceries. Harry began to prepare the chicken and asked "So, how's your week been Mione?" "Quite well, minus the chaos of today. Me and Ginny went to see George on Sunday when we went shopping for Victoire's birthday. He's looking so much better and the shop is doing fantastic!" Hermione chattered. "I'm glad to hear that. I saw him a few weeks ago. He looked good but it changes day to day with George. It's good to see him on his feet" Harry said as he breaded the chicken. "What about your week? Anything new in the Auror department?" Hermione asked Harry inquisitively. Harry shook his head "You would think we would have the most interesting job in the whole ministry but I literally spend all day sitting at my desk doing paperwork. It's hardly what I imagined. In fact, I don't like it nearly as much as I thought I would." Harry admitted. "Really? Would you want to do something else?" Hermione asked Harry seriously, sitting at the kitchen table.

Harry placed the chicken in the oven and put the timer on. He then went to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of elderflower wine "Want a glass?" he asked Hermione. "Yes please! My favorite!" Hermione said with a grin. Harry smirked and said "I know" as he uncorked the bottle and grabbed two glasses. Hermione realized that he must have bought it with her in mind and smiled to herself, slowly realizing just how well Harry truly knew her. Harry brought over two glasses and placed one in front of her. "So would you?" Hermione asked him. "Would I what?" Harry said confused. "Would you want to do something else instead of being an Auror?" Hermione asked him, taking a sip of her wine.

Harry smiled and put down his glass "Actually, yeah. I might" he said softly. Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Something you want to share with the class Harry?" Hermione asked him. Harry laughed "Funny that you said that. I um… got offered a position teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts" he told her. Hermione put her glass down and broke out into a huge smile. "Harry! That would be fantastic. You would make a phenomenal Defense teacher! Seriously, that sounds absolutely perfect for you. Hogwarts was always your favorite place to be anyway. My goodness, when did you get the offer?" Hermione said excitedly. "Monday night. Figured I'd wait to tell you until I saw you today" he said with a chuckle. "Are you going to accept it?" Hermione asked him. "Yeah, on the condition that I can floo from Hogwarts to go home in the evenings. Professors have done it in the past. McGonagall said that would be fine as long as I take one night a week to patrol as is customary for professors." Harry said with a laugh. Hermione got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind his chair and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. "You'll do fantastic!" she said quietly.

Harry entwined his fingers in hers and kissed her hand. "Thanks Mione" he said quietly, looking up at her. She looked into his eyes with a soft smile, which he eagerly returned. Harry looked at the clock and realized he needed to start boiling the water for the pasta. He slowly got up from his chair and placed a pot of water on the stove to boil. He turned from the stove to see Hermione had grabbed her glass of wine and walked over to the pictures he had framed on the wall. He had framed almost all of the pictures he had received of his parents through the years and placed them around the house. Hermione was standing in front of one of his favorites. His parents were at Hogwarts by the Black Lake and his mum was sitting in his dad's lap. They were both laughing and looked so at ease and he always wished he could have that one day. "They look so happy" Hermione said to him, looking at the picture. "Mhm, I like to think that they'd be proud of how far I've come" Harry said more to himself than her. Hermione walked over to him and gave him a hug "They would be, I promise" she told him seriously. He nodded, his heart full of love for the girl in front of him, and walked back over to the stove.

Harry threw the pasta into the water while Hermione drained her glass of elderflower wine. She went about setting the table while Harry finished preparing the food. Once the food had been plated, Harry placed the food on the table and him and Hermione set about to eating. "Harry?" she asked between bites "What are you going to do about the Auror department? When will you tell them of your resignation?" Harry swallowed a big bite of pasta and said "Already put in my two weeks this morning. It's time for a change. I'm tired of running after all the bad guys. I'd like to move on from that and put the skill to another use, eh?" he said with a smile. Hermione nodded and continued to eat enthusiastically.

Once they had both finished, Hermione went about cleaning the kitchen from their meal. "What movie are we watching tonight?" she asked Harry as she charmed the plates clean and placed them in the cupboards. Harry went to the living room and pulled out a few tapes then brought them into the kitchen. "I've got it down to three. We've got Titanic, Life is Beautiful, and Con Air." Harry told her, placing the tapes on the counter. Hermione looked at them and said "Well, I'm not one for action movies and the Holocaust is downright depressing so how about we watch Titanic. At least that one sounds like it won't be depressing for it's entirety" Harry nodded and grabbed the tapes as well as the bottle of wine and their glasses and headed to the living room.

Hermione finished cleaning and joined Harry on the couch in the living room. Harry put the tape in the VHS player and pressed play. They sat there watching the movie quietly and drinking more elderflower wine. They both had their minds whizzing with debates on what to do being in such close proximity once again. Harry decided to test the waters and see if perhaps Hermione was receptive to him taking this further. He put his arm around her shoulder quietly and stared at the movie nervously. Hermione's heart started to beat out of her chest when she felt Harry's arm around her shoulders and she leaned into his side, placing her head on the side of his chest. Harry smiled softly to himself and felt relieved that she hadn't shrunk away from him.

They continued to watch the movie and cuddled up to one another even more as the movie went on. After about the first hour and a half, Harry looked down to see Hermione was fast asleep. He reached for the remote and turned off the movie quietly. He didn't want to wake her since she looked so peaceful, so he decided to carry her up to the guest room. He slowly lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to the guest room with as much stealth as possible. Once he got upstairs and into the room, he pulled back the blankets and placed her on the guest room bed softly. He tucked her in and looked at her sleeping peacefully. The more time he spent with her, the more positive he was that he could never be without her. He slowly walked out of the room and closed the door, leaning against it once it was closed. He resigned himself to tell her at the next opportunity, not realizing that said opportunity would present itself on Saturday thanks to Ginny and George.


	5. Just A Kiss

**Author's note: I own nothing . Still. Oh well.**

 **The response to this story has been great. In this chapter, we are going to finally be making some progress. Hope you enjoy.**

She had woken up to a note by her bed and a cup of tea Thursday morning. Harry had left early to iron out some of the details of his new position at Hogwarts so Hermione got ready quickly and headed to St. Mungo's. They hadn't spoken since that evening.

Saturday came before Hermione could catch her breath. The rest of the week was a blur. Between doing double shifts at St. Mungo's and trying to iron out her feelings for Harry, Hermione was exhausted come Saturday morning. Molly had told her that the party was going to begin promptly at one in the afternoon. Hermione knew Molly would need at least a little bit of help setting up so she had already decided to show up around noon to see if she could be of any assistance. It was already ten when she woke up from her well-deserved slumber, which meant she had only a small window of time to get ready.

She stumbled out of bed and grabbed the cat food out of the cupboard, placing some in Crookshank's bowl. He was old and tame now compared to his younger years and sauntered into the room slowly, making a straight line for his food. Hermione leaned over and pet him softly on the head. "Morning Crooks" she said to him sweetly. She made herself a cup of tea and a bowl of cereal and ate quickly, keeping a watchful eye on the time. She cleaned up her bowl and mug and headed to the shower to get ready. She took her time showering, knowing this was going to be the most quiet she would experience all day. While she loved the chaos that was the Weasley's house, after a week at the hospital, it could get quite overwhelming. She got out of the shower and spent the next ten minutes in front of her closet trying to decide what she could possibly wear. She had gotten a bit behind on laundry over the past week and she wanted to look nice for the party (and admittedly Harry as well). She finally decided on a nice pair of jeans, a pretty purple top, and a pair of brown wedge heels. She got dressed, fixed her hair as much as she could (considering the humidity), and put on a light coating of makeup. She quickly grabbed Vioctoire's present, which she had wrapped the night before from the counter and apparated to the Burrow.

She arrived outside the Burrow to see Charlie and Ron using the tables to fight as they did every year. Wooden pieces of the table were falling from the sky and she could hardly believe the two of them hadn't outgrown this quite yet. The sound of the tables jarring into one another hurt her ears and she quickly made her way inside. Inside the kitchen, she found Molly Weasley bustling about trying to get food prepared for everyone's arrival. Molly turned around to see Hermione and flashed her a bright smile. "Hermione dear! You've come early. That's just as well, the more hands on deck, the better." Molly said as she gave Hermione a big hug.

Both Molly and Arthur had struggled greatly after Fred's death. Molly spent the first two months confined to her room, barely even speaking. If Arthur hadn't insisted she went to receive counseling at St. Mungo's, she might still be up in her room. Arthur was the stronger of the two when dealing with the situation. He was certainly torn to pieces but he was the rock of the family the first few months after the battle. It all turned around when they found out they were going to be grandparents. She had never seen Molly so excited as she did when Fleur and Bill announced they would be having a child only four months after the battle. Arthur and Molly both channeled their grief into the arrival of their granddaughter and by the time Victoire arrived the next June, there was at least some semblance of normalcy that had returned to the family. Each May they would commemorate the battle with a small family gathering honoring Fred but they were pushing forward with their lives as Fred would have wanted.

"Hermione dear, would you mind putting together the last of the sandwiches for the kids and putting them on that platter?" Molly asked her. Hermione nodded and set to work making the sandwiches. Molly left the kitchen to go yell at Charlie and Ron to stop fighting with the picnic tables. Hermione heard footsteps behind her and suddenly there were two hands over her eyes. She heard a voice in her ear that softly said "Guess who?" The voice sent a shiver down her spine and she said "Harry really?" with a laugh.

Harry laughed and took his hands off her eyes. "Fine, you ruined it! Anything I can help with?" he asked her with a smile. "No, I think I can manage. But if you could help Ron and Charlie set up, I am sure Mrs. Weasley would appreciate it greatly" Hermione said to him. Harry nodded and headed outside.

Hermione knew it was going to be one of those terribly long days. It was going to be a loud child-filled party with enough excitement for a lifetime. There would quite a few kids flooding the house considering how many grandchildren the Weasley's had now. Bill and Fleur would be bringing Victoire of course, but they had two more, Liam and Sebastian that were five and three. Percy and Audrey would be bringing their two year-old daughters Madelyn and Grace. And of course, Andromeda would be bringing Teddy over for the party. He had grown so much since the battle. He looked just like his mother. It would be nice to see him again at the very least since she hardly got to see him with her schedule. She hurried to make sure she had made enough sandwiches and headed outside to help set up.

The party went by far more quickly than Hermione had anticipated. Perhaps it was because she spent the day running after little kids, or perhaps it was because she couldn't take her eyes off of Harry the whole time, but regardless the day ended before it had hardly begun, at least in her mind. Harry, Ginny, Ron and George were all helping to clean up outside while Hermione washed and put away dishes. She was putting the last of the dishes away when Ginny popped into the kitchen. "Come outside Hermione. It's time for the adult party" Ginny said with a grin. Hermione looked at her, trying to place the mischievous glint in Ginny's eye. She decided whatever was going on couldn't be that bad, so she followed Ginny outside.

The boys had set up a bonfire in the backyard and placed a bunch of chairs around it. Ginny took a seat leaving a chair between her and Harry for Hermione to sit in. Hermione quickly sat down, nervously wondering what Ginny had in store for her. She knew Ginny well enough to know that something was fishy. Not to mention George kept staring at her with a goofy grin that she knew meant he was up to something. "Want a glass?" Ginny asked Hermione, raising up a bottle of elderflower wine. Hermione nodded and Ginny poured her a glass, handing it to her. Hermione took a sip of the wine grateful to unwind after such a hectic day.

They had all been sitting there for about an hour when Ginny shot George a look. Hermione was trying to place what had just occurred when suddenly she saw George stand up. "How about we play a game?" George said, after taking a big swig out of the glass of firewhiskey in his hand. Ron looked at him, already a few drinks in himself, and asked "Like what?"

"How about a fun take on spin-the-bottle? Except instead of kissing the person who the bottle lands on, they have to answer an extremely uncomfortable question of the spinner's choosing?" Ginny suggested with a smile. Hermione knew this was going to end badly. She could tell that Ginny was trying to get her to admit her feelings for Harry and she was not appreciative of the not-so-subtle push she was receiving.

"And I have the perfect thing!" George said, taking a vial out of his pocket. "Veritaserum. You can't lie" Hermione's face blanched at the sight of the bottle.

Harry and Ron both nodded with a laugh. Both of them had been drinking while they had been cleaning up so they were a little bit further gone than Ginny, George and Hermione were. Ginny was all smiles and while Hermione knew that it would hard to keep from revealing her feelings for Harry, she also didn't want to be left out. _Peer pressure is evil_ , she thought to herself. "Alright fine! But there has to be ground rules. Whatever is said is not to be repeated. No asking anything that you know will upset anyone emotionally" _she didn't want poor George to be asked about Fred_ "and under no circumstance does anyone get to ask about sexual. There are just some things I can't unhear" Hermione said with a huff.

Everyone agreed to the terms, particularly George who announced he didn't want to know anything involving his baby sister doing anything with anyone. George went around a put a drop of the Veritaserum in everyone's drink, or at least, that's what Hermione and Harry thought. In fact, George only put a drop in their drinks, He was proud to be prankster in that moment, for it came to practical use once again. The bottle he held had two ends each with a different spout. One end held Veritaserum, the other held water. All he had to do was flip the bottle over when he put the drops in his siblings drinks and flip it back for Harry and Hermione's. It was times like these it paid off to have a joke shop. He sat back down with a smile.

"I'll spin first" George said, grabbing an empty butterbeer bottle by Ron's feet. He spun the bottle and it landed on Ron. "Oy Ronniekins! Tell me dear boy, last week when no one could find you where were you?" George asked him. He had been listening to his mother fret over it all week and Ron had refused to tell them anything. The curiosity was killing him and he figured it would be good to start off with a laugh. Ron blushed and said "I was at a dance class"

Harry spit out his firewhiskey and began laughing. "Dance class? Why?" Harry asked him, with an incredulous look on his face. "The head of the auror department said I was clumsy and ordered me to take a ballet class to get more coordinated. Said it was what muggle football players do" Ron mumbled under his breath. George sat there with a grin and handed the bottle to Ron. "Never letting you live that one down!" George muttered.

Ron spun the bottle and it landed on Ginny. Ron sat there for a moment, contemplating his question and then smiled. "Gin, how serious are you Oliver really?" he asked her seriously. Ginny looked into the fire with a smile. "Well, honestly? We're talking about getting married" she said with a shy smile. Hermione grinned at her from ear to ear. "Oh my goodness really?" Hermione said beaming at her. Ginny nodded and Hermione gave her a big hug. "He hasn't officially asked me yet because he wants to ask Dad but yeah, it's going to be pretty soon" she said happily. Ron shook his head with a grin. "Poor bastard has no clue what he's getting into with this family" Ron said. Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed the bottle from his hand.

She spun the bottle and was thrilled when it landed on Harry. This is what she and George had been working on all week. They needed a way to force one of the two to say something and they found their chance. "So Harry, tell us, are you in love?" Ginny asked him, with a knowing look.

Harry's face went from drunkenly happy to terrified. He hadn't realized that this question would be brought up. He knew it was stupid to think that no one would try to get it out of him. It was obviously apparent to everyone he was in love with Hermione, well except to maybe Hermione. He tried to struggle against the Veritaserum but in the end he lost the battle. "Yes, I am" Harry choked out.

Hermione snapped her head in his direction. She didn't know Harry was in love with someone. She was surprised that he hadn't ever mentioned it to her. She felt silly that she considered he could possibly return her feelings. Her heart was silently breaking with the thought of him being with someone else. She knew that it wasn't her right to claim him, but she had been hopeful. She knew he couldn't be speaking about her. She had hoped maybe he had a small crush on her but she was positive that he couldn't be in love with her. Disappointment seeped into her heart and she sat there sadly trying to avoid Harry's gaze.

"Oh really?" Ginny said with a smile. Harry nodded and looked nervously at Hermione, who was looking away. He could tell by the look on her face that she had no idea that he meant her. He realized that as much as this moment wasn't the moment he had ever planned for, this was his chance. He knew he had to take it or Hermione would never realize how he felt about her.

"Yeah, actually, I've been in love with the same girl for awhile. She doesn't know though" Harry said, gaining confidence in his decision.

"And why haven't you told her?" George asked him, his eyes twinkling in delight. Harry realized that they set this up from the start but he couldn't figure out why. Unless Hermione loved him back. But he didn't want to be too hopeful.

"Because I've always been afraid to lose her friendship. She means more to me than anyone in the whole world. She's my best friend" Harry answered. Hermione looked up and stared at him, confusion in her eyes. Harry stared back at her, his eyes trying to say the words he could hardly speak. They sat like that for a few moments, the Weasley's all watching the exchange in thoughtful silence.

"Hmm, I think I am going to go get more of Mum's pudding. Anyone care to join?" Ginny said, getting up from her chair and walking away quickly. "Yeah me too" George said, getting up as well. George noticed Ron wasn't getting up to move so he pulled his ear and said "Ron, aren't you hungry" with a glare. Ron looked up at him confused, than realization dawned on him "Oy yeah, yes I am, I'll come too!" Ron said quickly and followed his brother and sister into the house.

Harry and Hermione sat there in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to do. Harry then mustered what little bit of courage he had left and grabbed for Hermione's hand. Hermione stared at him and choked out "What did you mean by that?"

"Well, uh, I guess this is as good of a time as any. Hermione, I…" Harry began to say. "How many best friends do you have?" Hermione asked quietly. Harry chuckled under his breath at her question. _Of course she would want to get her facts straight_ , he thought to himself.

"Two, and one of them is a guy" Harry told her seriously. Hermione shook her head, realization dawning on her. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she looked into his eyes. "Hermione, I… I love you. I have for a really long time. I get it if you don't feel that way about me but…" Harry said in a quick rush of breath.

Before Harry could finish his sentence, Hermione's lips descended on his. She kissed him softly at first, tentative of this newfound step in their relationship. Harry kissed her back with enthusiasm, his heart roaring with joy. They both pulled away shortly and looked at each other in awe.


End file.
